Discuss some situations where an example of bad behavior might help someone better understand the importance of good behavior. In Titus 1:15–16, Paul compares pure and undefiled people with defiled people. A person’s actions are what make them pure and undefiled, not words that contradict their actions. How might Paul’s comparison prepare us to pay more attention to the commands that follow in Chapter 2?
How can Paul help Titus understand the key differences between godly people and those who just claim they are godly? These verses teach Titus that a person’s actions show what they believe and what is in their heart. What we say is important needs to be confirmed by the things we do. This section also acts as a hinge, linking what follows back to Paul’s command about appointing elders. It summarizes why it is so important that Titus appoint elders who are qualified (1:5–14) and prepares us for his next big command about instructing people in the church. This theme of godly living serves as the big idea for the rest of the book. Chapter 2 focuses on what godly qualities that different kinds of persons need to live a pure and undefiled life; chapter 3 describes how those qualities manifest themselves in relation to others.
Discuss a situation in which you needed to instruct a diverse group of people to do something that needed to be adapted a bit depending on a person’s situation in life. How might a person’s life circumstances affect the struggles they face to live a godly life? What struggles might an older man or woman face serving the Lord that might differ from a younger person?
Recall the comparison that Paul makes in 1:15–16 between truly pure people and those whose actions prove they are not. This comparison introduces the theme of godly living that serves as the big idea for Titus 2–3. The sound instructions that Paul urges Titus to give the church focus on what pure and undefiled living might mean for people in different situations in life. He begins with instructions to older men and women to help them understand the characteristics of a godly person at their stage in life when they serve as examples to younger people. Paul then moves on to instruct young men, slaves, and masters. These instructions help members of each group better understand what pure and undefiled living practically means in the situations they each face.
Note that Paul indirectly provides instructions to younger women by embedding them in what the older women are to teach the younger ones. Note also the theme of self control repeated in the instructions to older men, younger women and men, and the supporting statement to slaves (v. 12) about how living self-controlled lives is the expected outcome. But the actions associated with self control are contextualized for each group and situation.
The final verse of the chapter does two important things: it serves as a closing summary for the previous commands, and it directly addresses the challenges Titus might face from church members who might ignore or disregard his teaching because of his age and inexperience. Paul reminds him that his confidence must come from the authority that Paul has entrusted to him, not his age or the negative response he might receive from some in the church.